TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The recent spate of altercations about public transit priority seats has prompted Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to discuss amending regulations with the central government.
Chiang said Wednesday (June 19), "The culture of courtesy should come from the heart and not be a form of moral coercion,” reported Rti.
At a press briefing, Chiang said the installation of priority seats follows the provisions of the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法) and regulations on the installation of accessible facilities in public vehicles. Chiang said the central government is considering expanding the scope of those eligible for priority seating beyond "elderly, weak, women, and children" to include "those with other actual needs."
Chiang said priority seats “reflect a city's warmth and human kindness.”
As to whether Taipei Metro will amend the regulations, Chiang said the Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering revisions.
Last week, a female passenger on the Taipei MRT's Red Line was asked to give up her priority seat and subsequently got into a conflict with another passenger, resulting in her hitting a pole and sustaining facial injuries. On Tuesday (June 18), an elderly passenger on the Green Line asked a young man to give up his spot on a priority seat.
However, the young man refused and a woman defended the youth and got into a shouting match with the elderly man. Out of apparent frustration, the elderly passenger then struck the young man in the head before being pulled away by other riders.
In the third incident, on Tuesday on the No. 505 bus in Keelung, an elderly man repeatedly told a student to move out of the way to allow him to take the priority seat. However, a middle-aged woman admonished the elderly passenger for being impatient and overly aggressive toward the younger rider, who was unable to move due to crowding on the bus.